The Damage That Birds Can Do To Your Roof

Many people never give this a moment's thought, but one of the things that can cause damage to a building – besides fire – is birds. Yes, those, friendly feathered chaps that like to nest on the roof of your building and those around you. This is particularly the case in seaside towns where the seagulls can roost in their hundreds, or even thousands. Pigeons are just as bad.

They love to nest in gutters, and daddy bird will go hunting for nesting materials while mummy bird prepares the nest and completely blocks up the downpipe. It can be such fun when you see the parents feeding the chick on the roof opposite, but they are doing the same on yours. And if your downpipes become blocked you can get water laying on the roof and in the worst-case scenario it can cause the roof to fail completely. It does happen – and more often than you might think.

The only way to stop the little blighters is to prevent them from nesting in the first place, and you can do this with bird netting installation or seagull spike installation. Either of these measures can prevent the birds from nesting on your roof and causing it damage.

You do need to get the right size of bird spike installation because if you use the size that deters seagulls your local starlings and sparrows will be able to create a very nice nest in between them! You need the services of a company that specialises in bird deterrent.

Even On a High Rise Building You Need the Windows Cleaned

If you have a high rise building you need to get the windows cleaned on a regular basis. Over time, dirt and grime builds up and if you don't have them cleaned it can cause people inside the building to become depressed and perhaps not perform at their best when they are your employees.

Dirty windows can also have a definite negative effect on potential or existing customers when they park in your car park and get out to be faced with a building which is dirty. It follows that every business should undertake window cleaning as a matter of course. 

This may be something that you do anyway if your office, factory or retail premises are only a couple of storeys high, and your local window cleaner may be able to do it for you without problem. However, it is a totally different kettle of fish if you have a high-rise building because you need a firm of specialists. There are not so many companies that undertake commercial window cleaning nationwide on high-rise buildings but unless you have a local company you are going to have to find one that does undertake window cleaning nationwide.

This is a highly skilled operation and requires a team of people who have been trained to the highest standards because of the potential dangers involved. However, there are some companies in the window cleaning industry who specialise in working on high-rise buildings using industrial rope access, and this is the sort of company that you need.

The Best Means Of Access To The Exterior Of High Rise Buildings Is Rope Access

Industrial rope access is the best means of allowing workers to scale the outside of tall buildings in order to carry out a variety of jobs such as window cleaning or inspection of the building for safety purposes and maintenance. 

Rope access is by means of an eyebolt firmly fixed at the top of the building to be scaled, and the eyebolt fixing will depend on the type of material into which it is being inserted and its’ condition. Some materials such as concrete are usually strong enough to do the job, but the eyebolts must always be tested before being put into service and have to be tested at regular six month intervals. The fall arrest eyebolts only have to be tested every 12 months, but the eyebolt is only ever used once and if it is needed and comes into service, then the fall arrest eyebolt must be renewed.

The eyebolts are tested using a special test meter and the load must be held for the required time of 15 seconds without any indication of failure such as movement of the anchor point or damage to the surrounding structure, including mortar joints. The 15 second requirement is because resin anchors which are still curing or are marginal for safety may fail during this time. The eyebolts themselves may be made from galvanised steel and may be powder coated. They can also be made of stainless steel.  All eyebolts have to be marked according to British Standards.

The Installation Of Eyebolts

The eyebolt is the means by which a worker can be lowered down a building safely while working at height. However, there are a variety of different eyebolts which will be chosen according to the material into which the eyebolt is to be fixed.

For solid brickwork, provided the brickwork is sound and the mortar in good condition, a resin socket type eyebolt can be used: this is an eyebolt screwed into a socket set in resin. However, many of the buildings in the UK constructed of solid brickwork are at least 80 years old, and as such the bricks have weathered and the mortar joints are weak. Trial tests need to be done in order to assess the safety or otherwise of the brickwork. If it turns out that it is weak, then a through fixing into a solid backplate could be considered.

Work positioning eyebolt installation into concrete is also usually of the resin socket type. Most concrete is perfectly strong enough to do the job provided the installation is carried out correctly. However, if there is any doubt, work positioning eyebolt testing must again be undertaken.

For cavity brickwork, the only choice is really a through fixing. Here an anti-compression tube needs to be used in order to prevent the cavity from collapsing when the nut is tightened, either when the eyebolt is installed or when it is subsequently tested as required by law.

Window Cleaning With A Water-Fed Pole

Many buildings can have their windows cleaned with water-fed pole window cleaning. However, there is, obviously, a limit to how far a water-fed pole will reach and the amount of strain that the operator can take. It is possible to buy a water-fed pole of 55’ in length which will clean up to six storeys high, but at this sort of height the pole does tend to become rather wobbly. If the building is a large one, it may well be that there are too many windows at height for the operator to manage in one visit, because handling a water-fed pole can become very tiring. 

Above this height one is looking at rope access suspended from eyebolts installed on the building, but WFP window cleaning is suitable for many buildings, such as schools and retail stores which, in general, do not have many storeys. A water-fed pole is usually made from something like light weight carbon fibre, and soft bristles are used to clean the glass which is rinsed using pure water.

Standard tap water contains many minerals, and while it is fine to drink, if used to clean windows it leaves spots and smears. This is because when the water evaporates it leaves the minerals behind. When you use deionised, purified water there are no minerals in it, so the windows can be left to dry naturally and there will be no spots or marks left behind afterwards.

Eyebolt Installation And Testing On High-Rise Buildings

Anyone working on the outside of high-rise buildings must be suspended from eyebolts and work positioning eyebolt installation must be carried out to strict standards. There are two British Standards involved – BS EN795 and BS 7883:2005.

There is a difference between a Fall Arrest system and a Work Positioning/Rope Access system. Both require the same standard of eyebolt installation but have different uses. The eyebolts can be installed directly into brickwork, concrete, masonry, or steelwork and the anchor systems which are used will vary according to the material.  The actual eyebolts are made from stainless steel or galvanised or powder coated steel and should be marked with the BS numbers and PPE directives. 

Work Positioning eyebolt testing must be carried out regularly as must Fall Arrest eyebolt testing, but the periods are different for a Fall Arrest eyebolt and a Work Positioning/Rope Access eyebolt. The latter must be tested every six months, while the Fall Arrest eyebolt must be tested every 12 months. They are tested using a test meter which itself must be calibrated every 12 months and at any time the meter is damaged or is dropped. The load testing meter has to be loaded to 6 kN (kiloNewtons) and it must hold for 15 seconds without the anchor point moving. (A kiloNewton is a measurement of force as opposed to a kilogram which is a measurement of mass).

While a Fall Arrest eyebolt only needs to be tested every 12 months, it is there to save a worker from a fall on ONE occasion only. After this, it must be replaced with a new eyebolt in accordance with HSE and LOLER standards.